Cooliwg aztd



May 7, 1929. I y T. J. BIXLER' v cooLiNG Amy DIsPENsINGr CABIN-ET Filed Aug. 13, 1926 F5' MPH/roe;

' mwmmef Patented May `7, 1929.r

UNrijE;

THURMAN si. BrXLEn, or nnroninson, ,Kans-As.

COOLING lD'ISPlll'SING? CABINET.

Application .filed August 13, 1926. Serial I'No '1i-39,030.

This invention relates to a cooling andvdispensing cabinetfor use in coolingand `dis-y pensing bottled beveragesor liquids, and one object of the invention is to provide a cabinet having a cooling 'chamber and one or more U-shaped racks forming channeled runways contained therein for holding'the bottles to be cooled, said. runways being so constructed as to ada-pt the bottles to roll by gravity therethrough between inlet and delivery ends thereof for a free and easy automatic. dispensing action. l

JAnother object of the invention is Vto piovide racks or runways of unitary construction independently insertable for use and removable for cleaning or repairs, and veach having a plurality of runway channelsso that a large number' of bottles may bev stored with-v in a cabin et of convenient size.

Still another object of the invention is to provide racks or runways which are imperforate and exclude ice or waterfrointhe runways'and from coming iii-contact with the bottles and interfering with their free travel or damaging the labels or otherwise i'eiidering the bottles unsightly or unsuitable to handle as dispensed. Y Y

Still another. obyect of theinventionis lto provide av construct-ion of cabinet'f which affords free acccss'at all times to the cooling chamber andrunways so that all parts Amay ber reached for `insertion of ice and insertion and removal of bottles, aswell as for repairs and maintenancer of the cabinet in a. highly vsanitary condition.

Nrlhe invention consists-of the features of construction, combination andy arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, in which Y l Figure l .is a front view of the cabinet.

Figure 2 is a side view thereof.

Figure 3 is a `vertical transverse section on line 3i-3 of Figure 4. f

Figure 4 isa vertical front-to-rear section on line 4 4 of Figure y Figure 5 is a horizontal section on line 5&5 of Figurel.

In carrying my invention into practice, Al provide a cabinet or enclosing casing l, of rectangular, oblong rectangular or other suitable form, and constructed of wood, metal or any desired combination of these materials. This casing'incloses and provides a cooling chamber 2, designed to'contain a suitable cooling medium, such as ice, a cooling liquid,

or 'a refriger'at'ing coil or the like. This chamber isprovided with a wall .or lining 3,`

of copper or other suitablemetal ormaterial, between which and the walls ofthe cabinet body is a filling or layer 4 of cork or any otherV insulating or heat non-conducting suitable material. f a

Enclosed within the cabinet, and disposed within said cooling chamber 2, is a series of bottleeholdingracks er runways 5, three of y slightly separated fromr eachother and the walls of the cooling chamber, so as to 'permit all surfaces of the racks lying inv the cooling Zone to come in contact n with .the coolingA Each rack or runway 5 is of unitary con-v struction and made of some good conducting' rll`hese racks or runways, 'as lshown, are arranged side by side, inv parallel relationship to each other, andpreferably material., and each rack is preferably U'- shaped, or substantially so,so as to provide a vertical intake arin 6, a vertical outlety orr discharge arm 7, and a curvedor return portion 8' connecting said arms at their lower ends. bases upon theil'iottoiii vof the cooling chamber'Zl and be loosely disposed in the cabinet, or detach ably held in position in any suitable manner, so that the racks may beinde- The racks may rest directly at their pendently applied and removed, allowing` cleaning, repairs or replaceinentsto be inade v in a ready and convenient .inanner, so that the cabinet andV all ofits contained parts maybe kept in thorough working order and in `a thoroughly sanitary condition at all times.

The upper ends of the arms of the racks lie' at a level, whichinay be above. the horizontal.

level of the cooling medium, and preferably in close proximity tothe upper open top of the cabinet, the'arraiigeinent thus being such that the bottles or containers 9 may be inserted A from. above down into the intake arms of the racks and discharged from the outlet arms of the racks through the open. top of the casing. When the racks are in position in the cooling chamber, the spaces between their vertical arms and above their bases are in alinement and foi-in a compartment normally cominunieating with the open top of the cabinet, into which compartment the ice, if such a refrige 1ant is used, may be inserted. Ice in crushed form, if desired, may be employed so that the acls or vrunways may be fully embedded therein, or ice and Water or brine in suitable quantities may be employed, in Vcabinets up to a reasonably large size, in the absence of or when it is not desired to employ mechanical refrigerating means. A single cover may be employed to normally close the open top of the container, but in the present instance a cover composed of three cover sect-ions 10, 1l and l2 is shown, the cover section l0 closing access to thatpart of the cooling chamber between arms of the racks, the cover section ll closing access to the inlet ends of the racks and the cover section l2 closing access to the delivery or discharge ends of the racks, thus permitting access to the racks for filling and dispensing purposes without removing the closure affording access to the cooling chamber. ,Y

In accordance with my invention, each rack is imperforate, or closed at all points exceptat its intake and discharge ends, in order to prevent access of the cooling liquid and ice to the interior of the racks.` By this means the surfaces of the bottles will always be kept dry and in presentable condition and in proper condition for handling, and damage to the bottlelabels Will also be avoided. Each rack 5 also provides a bottle containing runvvay channel or channels Which is or areflat in cross-section so as to hold the bottles in a.

`horizontal position for rolling engagement with the Walls of the channel or channels By this means a free and easy running motion of the bottles in lthe channel is secured, defacement of the labels or Stoppers of the bottles prevented, and liability of clogging ofthe bottles in the channels obviated. It is to be understood that the bottles to be cooled are inserted into the intake ends of the racks for a gravity feed through the racks and automatic discharge from the rack at their dischargeends. Initially, the channels'of the racks are completely lilled, so that a balanced Weight of the bottles in the inlet and outlet ends of the rack arms will be obtained, Whereby, upon the placing of anotherbottle above the top one at the inlet end of the rack, the Weight of the bottles in the inlet end of the rack will be greater than those in the outlet end of the rack, causing a movement of the bottles through the rack'and the discharge of a bottle at the'outlet end of the rack following the insertion of each bottle at the inlet end of the lrack l:By disposing the bottles in a horizontal position, instead of in avertical position, a. rolling feed action is obtained, as above-described, and a greater number of bottles may be placed in each rack of a cabinet of a given height, While at the same time a more positive and certain feed action is secured, and, by such construction also the necessity of employingan overhead rack to give a very great preponderance of Weight to the bottles in the inlet arms of the racks, or the necessity of employing a: forcing pressure on the bot tles, is necessary when the bottles are vertically disposed, is entirely overcome. I also preferably provide each rack ivith a partition 13, thus subdividing the rack into tivo channels, thereby'increasing the capacity of the rack and providing for the storage of bottles containing different liquids or bottles of different sizes containing the same liquid in one and the same rack. The partition also serves to stiften the rack and to provide a stronger construction. Y

In the use of ice, iceand Water, or ice and brine as a refrigerant, the cabinet may be provided at its bottom With a drain cock ist for an obvious purpose. t

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim zy A combined refrigerating and dispensing apparatus comprising aqcabinet having a refrigerant containing chamber, and a. series of U-shaped dispensing racks disposed in said chamber and independently 'insertible therein and Withdrawable therefrom, each rack being of unitary formation an dof non-circular form in cross-section and comprising imperforate top, bottom and side Walls, whereby the racks are closed against communication with the refrigerant containing chamber of the cabinet, each rack having a transverse partition d ividing it into upper and lower bottle containing channels, and said racks being arranged With their adjacent sides in spaced relation to cach other for the How of the refrigerant between them In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

THURMAN J. BIXLER. 

